Chapter Four
I've got to say that reading chapter four was kind of difficult. I had a hard time thinking about how to apply all of the suggested strategies in my high school classroom. The section I got the most out of was not even directly in the text. The Teach It box on page 106 was by far the most informative to me. I never thought about all the steps involved in reading a book aloud to a child. I was proud to see that I do tell Will who is the author of the book I am reading to him. But still, all of the other steps are new to me. I understand the purpose of the anticipation and prediction actions but it seems like they would disrupt the flow of the story.
I continue to be amazed at elementary school teachers who do all of these things on a daily basis. I don't remember doing these things when I was in school, but it sure seems like a fun way to learn. So many of the suggested techniques require the students to be actively involved in their learning. They are not passive recipients of knowledge.
I really like having the development milestones as seen on pages 124-126. I will be sure to use these with Will.
Chapter Five
ReplyDeleteThough I still had trouble relating the material to my high school classroom, I did find chapter five a little easier to read. The chapter went a long ways towards helping me understand my mother-in-law's love of teaching whole word reading. I also appreciated the development milestones included in this chapter. Though it won't help my juniors, it will help me help my little one. I did find it interesting that the authors pushed the study of word origins at what seems to me like an early age. I can understand doing this in the late middle school or high school years, but teaching elementary kids which words are Greek and which ones are Latin seems a bit much. I also realized we are totally using our word walls wrong. We have been pushed the last several years to make our rooms "standards-based classrooms." One of the characteristics of a standards-based classroom is to have a word wall. As far as I know no one in our school is using their word walls in the manner the authors suggest. I don't know that any of us are using our word walls other than to show the administration that they're up.
I also enjoyed having the developmental milestones detailed in the text on p. 124 - 126. I wish they had gone even further up in age/grade level. As with you, I tried to take the suggestions from the text and use them with my own children! After reading chapter 4 and watching the video of a first grade teacher teaching reading skills, I am also amazed at all of the things elementary teachers have to do on a daily basis!
ReplyDeleteDeborah Strickland podcast
ReplyDeleteI loved one of her early comments in the podcast, "Learning does not begin in Kindergarten." How much easier would a teacher's job be if parents believed this comment? How do we educate parents about this responsibility?
I also like her idea of virtual field trips. This is something I often do through Google Earth or the use of videos.
It was interesting to hear her echo the comments in the text about the need for students to be active participants in their learning. In fact, several of her comments seemed to parallel chapters four and five.
But I still have the same reaction, how can I use this information in my class? So much of this seems directed at the elementary level. What can I do to use this information in my high school classroom?
I agree, elementary school teachers do an amazing job. When we begin to discuss differentiation, I can only imagine the range of abilities and experiences that are threaded throughout a pre-K classroom. In the middle and upper grades, the students appear to be more homogenous, with their differences lending more towards interests and a lesser range of abilities. Nonetheless, I did find a good amount of the information useful to my practice. I teach 8th graders and I do find myself doing a good bit of prereading and postreading activities. Whenever, we read word problems or news articles, I use strategies before, during, and after the reading. Otherwise, there would be a good number of students confused or intimidated by the text. I am sure that you do these with your high school students as well.
ReplyDeleteI too was thinking about how could I apply any of this to my high school classes. I am ready to get to some topics that will be more relevant to high school. Maybe we will find out that knowing how the develpment of literacy works, will influence older struggling readers. I was thinking about applying some of the techniques with my 5 year old who is in kindergarten and just now learning how to read.
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